One of the biggest problems I’ve had with maintaining a blog is allowing myself to just being conversational. I tend to obsess over keeping things just to the high points — big ideas, big projects, things I’m working on that are relevant to other people’s lives — without really discussing the small things.

But, as close friends repeatedly inform me: those small things are meaningful. They capture sort of a slice-of-life that gives progression and context, making the person at the other end of the wire feel that much more real. This is the essence of what has become digital watercooler conversation: these little scraps of vicarious life are what makes other people just seem less alien.

So, I’m going to give it a shot and see if I can maintain anything resembling momentum.

Let’s start with some random Goldkin facts you probably didn’t know about me that you might find interesting:

If you’ve been reading some of my otherpages, you know that I’m a dragon. Did you know that I’ve been stating this openly for over twelve years? It’s kind of scary to think about, in hindsight.

My birthday is February 19th. These means that, in addition to being born roughly one month before Spring in the shortest month of the year, the modern zodiac has a hard time classifying me. I have sort of strong opinions about how confirmation bias is responsible for most of modern day astrology, but I never could figure out if I was supposed to be an Aquarius or a Pisces. They’re kind of fitting to my demeanor, though.

You’re not getting the year or how old I am, other than “late 20s”, however. See my previous post for why I’m kind of touchy about giving out my full birthday.

Many people know I’m a software engineer from my public profiles, but did you know that I’m also a security engineer? I have sort of a longstanding history reverse-engineering viruses, malware, and exploits, though I’m a bit rusty these days for wearing so many hats where I work. You should ask me about it sometime, though. I love talking about it.

Before getting into security, I was very big on virtual reality. I still am. I have ambitions of making a virtual dragon avatar that is just like I envision me to be. It’s why my 3D modeling skills are as good as they are, even though I post my work sparingly. (This is also something I enjoy talking about!)

That I am writing this post at 2:47AM on a work night and really should go to bed?

Actually, that last part is what will cut this short for now. I just want to try something informal and sort of see where things go from there.